March Madness Scores 2012: First Round Winners That Will Cruise to Sweet 16
If you're looking for a good game in the second round, it might be best to avoid these teams. They will do a lot of things, but their games will not be terribly exciting.
We always want drama, but it won't come from these schools. Make no mistake, they are going to move on to the Sweet 16 and will do so with ease.
Kentucky
The Wildcats looked very much like the No. 1 overall seed, putting up more points than all but a very select few teams in the country could even come close to. That is, when playing Kentucky. Granted, Iowa State was awfully impressive as well, but Connecticut was not a legitimate tournament team.
Momentum is a complete wash. This one will come down to who has the better team, and that's clearly Kentucky. They are too big, score too much and shoot extremely well. It wouldn't at all surprise me if the Wildcats went to the Final Four without being pushed within 10 points.
Iowa State is a nice story, but it's going to end emphatically on Saturday. Anthony Davis is the best player in the country, and he leads an incredibly deep team whose length and speed gives any team in the country matchup issues.
Prediction: Kentucky 79, Iowa State 64
Ohio State
Another matchup of two impressive teams is going to go to the Buckeyes. The problem here is that the Bulldogs don't have the size to handle Jared Sullinger. Even West Virginia's two small forwards had a combined 23 points, and that was in an abysmal game for the Mountaineers.
With DeShaun Thomas and William Buford complementing Sullinger, the Buckeyes have too strong of a top three to compete with.
As far as specific predictions go, look for the two teams to play pretty evenly in the first half. Ultimately, Ohio State's depth at the top of their rotation will be too much. They have too many scorers for the Zags to compete with.
Prediction: Ohio State 73, Gonzaga 62
Louisville
Here, you're looking at an incredibly hot team that will keep it going. The reason they will keep winning is because they can win in many different ways, and not many teams in the country have that ability. There is no definitive style that the Cardinals need to play to, nor avoid.
The x-factor here will be Peyton Silva. He has been hot since the beginning of the Big East tournament, scoring 10 or more points every game since then.
New Mexico's game against Long Beach was too close for comfort for me. They did manage to advance, but that won't happen again.
Prediction: Louisville 76, New Mexico 65
Thursday's Finals:
| Region | Score |
| South | No. 1 Kentucky 81, No. 16 Western Kentucky 66 |
| South | No. 8 Iowa State 77, No. 9 Connecticut 64 |
| South | No. 12 VCU 62, No. 5 Wichita State 59 |
| South | No. 4 Indiana 79, No. 13 New Mexico State 66 |
| South | No. 11 Colorado 68, UNLV 64 |
| South | No. 3 Baylor 68, No. 14 South Dakota State 64 |
| West | No. 5 New Mexico 75, No. 12 Long Beach State 68 |
| West | No. 4 Louisville 69, No. 13 Davidson 62 |
| West | No. 6 Murray State 58, No. 11 Colorado State 41 |
| West | No. 3 Marquette 88, BYU 68 |
| East | No. 1 Syracuse 72, No. 16 UNC Asheville |
| East | No. 8 Kansas State 70, No. 9 Southern Mississippi 64 |
| East | No. 5 Vanderbilt 79, No. 12 Harvard 70 |
| East | No. 4 Wisconsin 73, No. 13 Montana 49 |
| East | No. 7 Gonzaga 77, No. 10 West Virginia 54 |
| East | No. 2 Ohio State 78, No. 15 Loyola-Maryland 59 |
